Asian newspapers at the weekend found some sympathy for President Clinton but many feared that "Zippergate" could further destabilise an already shaky world economy.
The Indian Express came to the President's defence, saying Americans "know that he has been lying about something which most of them would not have admitted in public if they were in his position". It had no sympathy for investigator Kenneth Starr. "He has done this most elaborate investigation not to bring back family values to the vital centre of American polity. He has done this to evict Bill Clinton from the Oval Office," the paper said.
Other Indian papers were harsher on the President. "Clinton brought to memory the spectacle of a hunched and humbled Nixon doing his best to hold back tears as he left the White House for the last time," said The Hindu, India's most respected newspaper. "But this time regret is long past. It is much too late for sentiment."
The Pioneer said Mr Clinton was not the first US president with a penchant for extramarital indiscretions or lying while in office, pointing to John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. "Nixon had to step down. If Clinton continues to be in office, he will perhaps be the first US president to do so despite having had to admit to lying and improper conduct."
The Times of India was also harsh. "Zippergate involves more than the fact that Clinton lied and misused the power of his office, thus betraying the trust reposed in him by his country."
But it added: "Ultimately, Clinton's unpardonable offence may prove to be not monstrous turpitude but common humanity."
In Australia the affair wiped the country's election campaign off the front pages, but the US leader received encouraging praise from the Prime Minister, Mr John Howard. He said he had to choose his words carefully on the question of whether Mr Clinton was becoming an embarrassment following the publication of the report.
But Mr Howard added: "I believe he has been a very good President. Obviously the American nation is going through a difficult time at the present. I don't pre-empt what is going to happen. I can only say that in my dealings with him and my observation of him he has been a very, very successful President."
The Sydney Morning Herald summed up the view of many in an editorial, saying Mr Clinton is not facing his Watergate and may be able to hang on, avoid further humiliation and secure his place in history.
The paper said comparisons with Mr Nixon, who resigned in 1974 after details of a dirty-tricks campaign against the rival Democratic Party were revealed, were unwarranted.
"What brought Richard Nixon down was unprecedented criminal behaviour on the part of the executive branch of government: covert intelligence-gathering operations, bribes, money-laundering . . . and systematic lies," it said. "By contrast, Mr Clinton is accused of a host of lesser crimes . . . all of which centre on his affair with Ms Lewinsky."
The paper argued that the case for impeachment was not clear-cut and the outcome could be drawn out. But "it couldn't have come at a worse time" with the global financial system wobbly and the world in a parlous state.
In the Philippines, columnist Nestor Mata wrote in the Manila Standard that "what's happening to Mr Clinton is really an assault on the dignity of the office of the president of the United States."
He noted that the Philippine President, Mr Joseph Estrada, won election by a landslide despite admitting having been a womaniser and remarked: "The dismaying sexual tales now convulsing Washington can't possibly happen in Manila at this time."
Hong Kong media said the scandal could create political uncertainty when strong US leadership was needed amid turbulent global financial markets.
The mass-circulation Chinese-language Apple Daily said it was unfortunate that the scandal had emerged "when the international financial markets need strong leadership from the United States."
The Hong Kong Economic Journal said the effect on international financial markets would be psychological.
"The question before the House Judiciary Committee is whether sexual dalliance and romantic indiscretions are sufficient grounds for the impeachment of a president, however morally repugnant that this might be to some," said the English-language Hong Kong Standard.
The independent daily Ming Pao said Mr Clinton's future looked gloomy. Despite his past success in internal and external affairs, "how can other nations respect the Americans?" it asked.
Japan's Asahi Shimbun worried about the impact on a planned meeting between Mr Clinton and the Japanese Prime Minister, Mr Keizo Obuchi. The economic daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun said it was "inevitable that the prestige of the President will be seriously impaired and the government's capacity of implementing policies will be reduced."
South Africa's press gave splash coverage to the scandal, with one paper labelling Mr Clinton "an international laughing stock". "In public life, the distance between peccadillo and power abuse is perilously short," the Weekend Argus said in an editorial. "The Monica Lewinsky affair goes beyond mere indiscretion.
"That Mr Clinton has been turned into an international laughing stock is one thing," it added. "But the suspicion and the derision risk tarnishing the institutions of state, too, because they depend chiefly on the trust of the people they serve."
The newspaper said Mr Clinton abused his power for sexual advantage and later "cynically resisted the mounting pressure to be honourable and honest".
"In the politics of executive power - in a nation intent on exercising global influence, even by force - it is inconceivable that a plea for forgiveness offers a remedy,".
Cartoonists also had a field day, with one showing investigators in a DNA lab announcing: "Well, sir, we've got clothes, but no cigar."